B&W files protest of Y-12 contract decision

The Babcock & Wilcox Co.-led team of Nuclear Production Partners LLC has filed a protest against the National Nuclear Security Administration’s recent awarding of a management and operating contract for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Y-12 nuclear weapons site in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Comment

By Darrell Richardson/Staff

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Darrell Richardson/Staff

Posted Jan. 18, 2013 at 3:27 PM
Updated Jan 21, 2013 at 6:33 PM

By Darrell Richardson/Staff

Posted Jan. 18, 2013 at 3:27 PM
Updated Jan 21, 2013 at 6:33 PM

OAK RIDGE

The Babcock & Wilcox Co.-led team of Nuclear Production Partners LLC has filed a protest against the National Nuclear Security Administration’s recent awarding of a management and operating contract for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Y-12 nuclear weapons site in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

A Jan. 18 B&W release states Nuclear Production Partners was notified by NNSA 10 days earlier that it wasn’t awarded the contract.

“NP2 filed the protest in accordance with federal regulations … (and) the U.S. Government Accountability Office must rule on the protest within 100 days of filing,” the release stated. “In the interim, the incumbent B&W-led LLCs will continue to safely and securely manage the Pantex and Y-12 facilities under their current contracts.”

Last week, it was reported that a team headed by Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. was selected to manage Y-12 and Pantex — two of the nation’s key nuclear weapons facilities. The NNSA touted the potential savings to the government by consolidating management of the two production plants … even though they are in different states and 1,000 miles apart.

The new contractor will be called Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC.

Bechtel currently shares the management role at Y-12 in a partnership with Babcock & Wilcox. B&W Y-12 LLC has held the Oak Ridge contract since 2000, while either Lockheed Martin or its predecessor Martin Marietta managed the Y-12 plant for 16 years from 1984 to 2000.

Consolidated Nuclear Security’s contract also includes construction project management of the $6 billion Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 and an unexercised option for Savannah River Tritium Operations at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.

In part, a Jan. 8 release from NNSA stated that the latest move “shapes the future of the United States nuclear security enterprise and will save $3.27 billion in taxpayer dollars over the next decade,” though NNSA officials, in a subsequent call-in, offered little if any specifics related to how the cost savings will be realized.

The call-in also addressed questions pertaining to a widely publicized and “unprecedented” security breach at Y-12 last summer (July 28, 2012), reportedly perpetrated by three older “activists,” including an 82-year-old Catholic nun. The trio reportedly cut through at least three security fences, crossed Bear Creek and made their way to the $549 million Highly Enriched Uranium Manufacturing Facility (HEUMF), where they spray-painted the building, hung banners and poured “human blood.”

The HEUMF is a $549 million storage bunker that holds the nation’s primary supply of bomb-grade uranium.

To add insult to injury, photos were published in mid-December indicating contractors still hadn’t fixed the fence where the “Transform Now Plowshares” initially gained access to the Y-12 plant five months earlier.

Page 2 of 2 - As part of last week’s announcement, NNSA reported Consolidated Nuclear Security will take over mission activities under the new contract starting May 1, 2013. The base term of the new contract is five years, with options that may extend the term up to an additional five years.

A related statement released last week by B&W noted Babcock & Wilcox is “disappointed” their team wasn’t selected to lead the NNSA’s combined management and operating contract for Y-12 and Pantex.

“We believe our proposal was a very strong choice for moving closer to NNSA’s vision of a consolidated Nuclear Security Enterprise,” the Jan. 8 B&W release stated in part. “We will carefully evaluate information received during NNSA’s debriefing process and consider the options available to us within the procurement process. …

“Over the past 12 years, with the support of NNSA, workers, community and public leaders, B&W Y-12 and B&W Pantex have made great accomplishments at the production sites. As the Y-12 M&O contractor, B&W Y-12’s history of success includes increasing dismantlements and the site’s production capacity, while at the same time executing complex projects, including the removal of 1.3 million square feet of aging facilities. …